Pashinyan says results on detainees will be visible

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan neither confirmed nor denied the possibility of Armenian detainees held in Azerbaijan returning before Armenia’s parliamentary elections.

Speaking at a briefing, he said he does not understand the logic of viewing the issue in that context, adding that “when there are results, we will all see them,” Sputnik Armenia reports.

“Those who raise the issue from this perspective, do they want them to return or not? Or do they want them to return, but later? It is always before elections… the previous group that returned also did so before elections. In a democratic country, it is always before elections, because the day after elections is already before the next elections, as local elections follow in a few months,” he said.

Referring again to the detainees held in Azerbaijani prisons and former military-political leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh, Pashinyan used the term “persons held in captivity,” noting that daily efforts are being made to secure their release.

“When there are results, we will all see them. I say this not because I have some information that I do not want to disclose, but because my experience shows that until someone crosses the Armenian border, it is not serious to announce such a possibility,” Pashinyan emphasized.

Earlier, a court in Baku sentenced Ruben Vardanyan to 20 years in prison.

Former Nagorno-Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan was sentenced to life imprisonment. Former Defense Army commander Levon Mnatsakanyan and his former deputy Davit Manukyan, as well as former Foreign Minister Davit Babayan and Parliament Speaker Davit Ishkhanyan, were also sentenced to life terms. Former presidents Arkady Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan received 20-year sentences.

Madat Babayan and Melikset Pashayаn were sentenced to 19 years, Garik Martirosyan to 18, Davit Alaverdyan and Levon Balayan to 16, and Erik Ghazaryan, Gurgen Stepanyan, and Vasily Beglaryan to 15 years in prison.